Pneumatic-tire armor.



U. E. EVANS.

PNEUMATIC TIRE ARMOR.

APPLICATION FILED rum, 190s.

928,433. Patented July 20,1909

Char/es E Evans, Svw ntoz.

CHARLES E. EVANS, OF COUNCIL BLUFFS, IOWA.

PNEUMA'flIC-TIRE ARMOR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 20, 1909.

Application filed February '7, 1908. Serial No. 414,807.

To all whom it. may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLns E. EVANS, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of Council Bluffs, in the county of Pottawattamie andState of Iowa, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inPneumatic-Tire Armor, of which the following is a specification.-

My invention relates to armor or shielding devices for preventing wearand puncture of pneumatic tires and the like.

It is the object of my invention to provide an armor of this type whichmay be made of light weight and sufficiently flexible not to materiallyreduce the resiliency of the tire; in which the form of the tread-plateis such that it will not cut the tire and will provide a corrugatedsurface to give the wheel a firm hold upon the ground and prevent sliping or skidding; and to provide mks in w iich the parts connectin thesame are of such form that they will bend naturally into a uniformlycurved loop, thus enabling them to be assembled rapidly and cheaply withsimple and inexpensive mechanism.

Constructions embodying my invention are shown in the accompanyingdrawings in which--.

Fi ure 1 is a transverse section of a tire and whee riin provided withmy armor, Fig. 2 is a side elevation, partly sectional, of a portion ofthe tire and rim, Fi 3 is a plan view of one of the connecting inksbefore forming, Fig. 4 is a plan view of the link when formed and readyto assemble, Fig. 5 is a side view of the same, and Fig. 6 is a sideview showing the manner in which the links are assembled.

The armor is com. osed of a series of short' fiat-linked chainsp acedaround the tire l transversely thereof, the'end members 2 of the chainsbeing provided with hooks for engagement with the wheel rim 3 or, ifdesired, with any annular body disposed at the side of the tire. All ofthe chain members are preferably made by stamping or punching from sheetsteel. The central member of each chain fits over the tread of the tireand will be herein referred to as the tread-plate. The said tread-plateis provided at the ends thereof with slots 4 adapted for engagement withthe adjoining members of the chain. The tread-- late is curvedlongitudinally to a radius slig tly larger than that of the tire overwhich it is to be placed, as shown in Fig. 1, and also has a transversecentral bend 5 therein between the end slots thereof, while thelongitudinal edges thereof 6 are curled slightly outward, as shown inFig. 2. The longitudinal and transverse bending or arching of thetread-plates tends to stiffen the same so that they may be made oflighter material without being distorted by the pressure upon the wheelwhen in use. The outward curl of the longitudinal edges of the plateprevents the same from cutting the tire and also serves to turn asideany shar pointed object, such as a nail, which mig t strike the arch ofthe plate and be directed thereby toward the crack or opening betweenthe adjoining edges of the plates. The central archingof thetread-plate, by'holdi'ng the ends thereof up off the ground, also servesto reduce the distortion and wear of the curled ends of the adjoininglinks which pass tllirough the slots 4 in the ends of the treadate.

The chain between the tread-plate and the end members 2 is formed by twoor more links 7 each of which is provided with aslot 8 at one endthereof. The ends of the links 7, o posite the slots 8, are tapered asshown in ig. '3, the sides of the tapered portion each forming acompound or ogee curve. After the said links are cut or punched to theform shown in Fig. 3, the tapered ends thereof are formed into'hooks asshown Figs. 4 and 5. In assembling the chains the hooked ends of thelinks-are passed through the slots in the adjoining chain members andthe hooks are then curled downwardly at the ends to form loops which areclosed sufficiently to prevent the links being withdrawn therefrom. Theclosing of the hooks is conveniently performed by means of a pair ofsimple forming plates X and Y, as shown in Fig. 6, which may be held inany ordinary punch ress. By the com ound curve of the sides 0 thetapered ends orming the hooks on the links, the resistance thereof tobending stresses is so proportioned that the hook, when subjected topressure near the end thereof, will bend naturally to a uniform curve.The large uniformly rounded loo which is thus formed makes a perfectlyflexible connection between the chain members, so that the use of thearmor does not materially reduce the resiliency of the tire.

Now, having described my invention, What I claim and desire to secure byLetters Patent is:

1. A tire armor comprising a plurality of chains disposed around thetire transversely thereof, each of said chains comprising a-tread-plate, end members and links connectmg said tread-plate and endmembers, the

outwardly curled, the connecting links each having a slot near one endthereof, the opp0-- site end being tapered, each side of the taperedportion forming, a compound curve, and the tapered portions of the linksbeing formed into loops.

2. In a tire protector, connecting links each having a slot near one endthereof, the opposite end being tapered, each side of the wares taperedportion having the form of a coinpound curve of which the portionsadjoining the point and base of the tapered portion are v concave andthe central portions are convex, the tapered portions of each link being29 passed through the slot of an adjoinin memer of the protector andcurled toorm a loolp.

n testimony whereof I have hereunto subscribed my name in the presenceof two wit- 25 IIGISSGS.

